What lies beneath Fort Monroe?

Each description is applicable to contractors scouring Fort Monroe for unknown pieces of metal buried underwater at the historic Army post.

The task, part of the Army's effort to ensure the fort is safe following its planned September 2011 withdrawal, began Thursday with crews poking around the facility's moat.

Army officials expect them to find everything from Civil War-era cannonballs to rusted cans of Miller Lite.

"It's not as fearsome as it sounds," said Heather McCann, a Fort Monroe spokeswoman. "But they're probably going to find some pretty cool stuff."

The reason is the fort's history. While built in the early 1800s, its use as a fortification dates back 200 years earlier.

Capt. John Smith recognized its importance, the story goes, and colonists built Fort Algernourne in 1609 to protect Jamestown. Various forts followed, but none lasted.

It wasn't until after the War of 1812 that the United States decided it needed to better fortify its coast. Consequently, Fort Monroe was built from 1819 to 1834 to protect the port cities of Hampton Roads.

Under the control of Union forces during the Civil War, Confederate President Jefferson Davis is among the fort's best-known prisoners. The fort played a role, from storing artillery to training troops, in every war the United States has been involved in since.

Given the heavy traffic during the past 200 years, it's not surprising that stuff has been left behind.

Earlier this summer, Maryland-based EA Engineering Science and Technology probed the installation and found about 3,000 unknown metal objects to investigate, said McCann. The objects likely range from the mundane, discarded trash, to historic and dangerous items, such as 200-year-old rail ties and abandoned Army mines.

Contractors will spend today and Saturday in a boat investigating objects found in the moat. They'll move onto land today, too, digging holes to examine what's buried underground at Dog Beach.

EA Engineering, which received a $1.6 million contract in 2008 to perform the work, should finish its task by November, McCann said. A separate contractor is investigating which type of environmentally hazardous materials might need to be removed from the base, she said. She had no further information on Thursday.

The Army plans to leave the 570-acre installation by September 2011.

A debate continues over what to do with the land. Some argue that the fort's rich history makes it ripe as a tourist destination.

Others want the land developed; a combination of waterfront houses and commercial properties would boost Hampton's tax base, they argue. Still more say it should become a park, open to the public.

The Department of Defense will eventually transfer the land to Virginia. An 18-member board of residents, elected officials and politicians will determine the land's fate.